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Adrian Romero

J. Snyder

Capstone Final Draft 2023

10 April 2023

Clinical And Counseling Psychologist

As children, attending school and seeking an education is instilled in our mindsets and

routine. When parents urge us to live our lives in the career of our choice, and although many

children dream of the most remarkable careers to pursue, their dreams are based on who they are,

even though that might not be so clear at such a young age. When I was younger, I used to want

to be a veterinarian because I grew up with animals around me. I was known as the kid who went

to school covered in dog hairs, but I couldn’t help but love my dogs, bunnies, birds, chickens,

turtles, and many other animals I have owned. When I was in high school, I started questioning

many things in my life. I would ask myself many questions, and the most important question that

sparked my interest in the study of the mind was, “What makes us do the things we do?” That

question influenced me to become self-aware that I was interested in psychology because I could

figure out how the world around me worked. My teenage years will remain prominent in my

memory when I discovered that I wanted to pursue a counseling career.

My name is Adrian Romero, and my ethnicity is Salvadorian and Mexican. I am a

seventeen-year-old male born and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan and currently a senior at Lee

High School. I am proud to say that I belong in the LGBTQ+ community as a gay man.

I joined the Lee community at the beginning of my sophomore year and quickly realized

that a school can make such a significant impact and difference in someone. I started running
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track for Lee during my sophomore year and continue to do so. Before Lee, I attended

Innovation Central High School during my first year and quickly realized that Central High

School was not the school for me. I also attended a small kindergarten through eighth-grade

school called Southwest Community Campus, or SWCC. All three of these schools I have

attended, and the experiences I have helped me become a better person and helped shape me.

I first realized being a counselor would be a career I’d like to pursue when I was around

fourteen. I had a rough transition into adolescence, which changed how I thought about myself

and my family. I noticed I was more mature than the other kids in my grade, and my interest in

psychology grew. When I was younger, I wished I had more support from the world around me.

The LGBTQ+ community did not feel like it was something important to me, although it is who

I will always be. I grew up watching the LGBTQ+ community struggle against constant

discrimination and harassment. I viewed news articles and videos of people who would terrorize

the LGBTQ+ community by damaging local gay communities, killing gay people in nightclubs,

and many other examples of harassment and discrimination. “One in ten children and adolescents

in the U.S. have mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment, yet fewer than

one in five receive the needed treatment”(Raphael). I am aware that many kids do not receive the

treatment they need due to a poor understanding of mental health, which is why I want to work

with kids and stress the importance of counseling.

Luckily, I am grateful that I could seek the help I needed when I was younger and

continue receiving guidance into adulthood. Unfortunately, everything said so far will not help

you fully understand the trauma and depression the LGBTQ+ community face. If there were

more news reports and articles that mention all the trauma that the LGBTQ+ community face,

then I think the world will support our needs. An interesting quote found so surprising was:
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“Every 45 seconds in the United States, one LGBTQ+ kid between the ages of 13 and 24

attempts suicide”(Franke). I think this world needs to understand how words and actions can

affect certain groups and just be nice to one another. My childhood, as well as my adolescence,

have shown me that many things in life will impact the way a child will come to think and do

something. I want to be there for kids who struggle as I did.

Role models are essential when you are faced with many challenges in your lifetime.

Having someone to look up to and strive for the same greatness they have achieved is essential.

My older sister is an excellent example of a role model for me. She graduated from Aquinas and

quickly got a job teaching at Grandville High School. I have always aspired to be like my sister,

a first-generation scholar who took the opportunity my parents gave her and made something of

herself. I want to take the education I receive from Aquinas and help children needing guidance.

I aim to graduate from college with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. I will accomplish

this by continuing my education at Aquinas. While I am at Aquinas, I will be running for the

men's track and field team, and I know I will strive to become a great athlete; I’ll have the

support of my coaches and teammates to help me reach this goal of mine. I want to encourage

myself to do more community service since I understand the importance and significance of

giving back to those less fortunate. Being a counselor starts with the ability to sympathize with

and understand the lives of others. Putting myself in a position to give back to the community is

something I want to do to broaden my understanding of diversity and culture.

As I get older, many things are changing, and becoming more confident is necessary to

love and trust myself. I want to be a great role model for my younger self and those teenagers

who feel lost in this chaotic world. What makes me who I am is my identity in the LGBTQ+

community as a gay man. My life experiences contrast with many other heterosexual men in
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society today. I am simply a person who deserves the same rights as any other heterosexual, and

since the day I was born, I have been assigned to a minority group; therefore, I could not just sit

here typing on my laptop and not stress the importance of providing the right resources for young

adults like me who have struggled the way I did.

I have grown a lot from my younger self and identified psychology as a career pathway

am interested in pursuing. I have embraced my experiences, and I am choosing to help those

needing guidance and support. Choosing Aquinas College as a school, I would like to continue

my education, it is a significant accomplishment; knowing I come from many hardships and

rejections, I refuse to take my opportunities for granted and not make something of myself. I am

still determining where I will end up, but no matter what I believe, if I can do things in life with

passion and love, I will end up exactly where I am meant to be.

Works Cited

Franke, Katherine. “Diary of a Queer Kid.” The Nation, 29 Apr. 2022,

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/diary-queer-kid-texas/

Raphel, Sally. A national action agenda for children's mental health. J Child Adolesc

Psychiatr Nurs. 2001 Oct-Dec;14(4):193-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6171.2001.tb00314.x.

PMID: 11767511.